Insects Pest

Winning the war on garden insects pest

Insect pest seems to be a continuous problem for the homeowner. Nothing is more disturbing than to see your garden that is growing so beautifully overtaken by these uninvited guess.

In this article, we will be looking at these insects pest and how to identify them.

Sucking insects

Sucking insects are insects that have piercing-sucking mouthparts. These insects pierce the leaf cells and suck the juice. The saliva of some of these insects are toxic and spreads viruses.

Sucking insects cause leaf drop, the leaves begin to turn yellow and then brown signifying the cells are dead. Also sucking insects secrets a sugary substance that is known as honeydew.

From this dew, molds are formed on the leaf surface. This mold is black and really cause plants to look sickly and unattractive. This mold can further interfere with photosynthesis, causing plants to be unable to produce its own foods.

Sucking Insects

Among many of these sucking insects includes

Mealybugs

Spider mites

Scales

Aphids

Stink bugs

Whiteflies

And an effective way to control these insects is by using systemic control. Systemic pesticides absorb in the plant’s system when the insects begin its feeding, these chemicals are ingested by insects pest.

Chewing Insects

Chewing Insects

Chewing insects are insects that live up to their name and that is not to suck the sap from the plants but to eat parts or in some case the entire plant.

Signs of these kinds of insects includes damage and missing leaf parts. A great way to control these insects is by using contact sprays. Chewing insects cause millions of dollars in crop damage each year. A high infestation of these insects can really turn your garden into a graveyard.

The bougainvillaea lopper is nocturnal meaning they feed at night so the only thing that will be seen at daytime is the damage and not the insects but if investigating your garden at nighttime with a flashlight will show these insects at work.

Some of these sucking insects are

1. Grasshoppers

2. Bougainvillea loppers

3. Caterpillars

4. Beetles

5. Dragonfly

6. Katydids

7. Cutworms

The links that are in the above section along with this link may offer some help. Chemical application

Rasping Pest

A Garden Snail

Insects that rasp includes snails, slugs, thrips, and mites. These pests feed on plants by scraping off the top layer of plant leaves and ingesting the plant juice.

Slugs and snails can be controlled by using snail baits, for thrips and mites a systemic control will offer some help.

The final word

Winning the war on these insects is not hard at all, it is all a matter of identifying them and knowing what measure to take. These insect pests may be a pest, but with the right control method, the war will fall in your favour.